Imaging devices are conventionally known that are suitable for digital cameras or optical sensors or the like, in which a CCD-type or CMOS-type imaging element is mounted on a wiring substrate. For example, an imaging device is known that includes a wiring substrate having a through hole formed in a center portion thereof, a recess portion being formed in a lower surface thereof such that the through hole is located on an inner side of the recess portion, a connection terminal being arranged around the through hole on the lower surface and outside terminals arranged at an outer peripheral portion thereof, the wiring substrate being provided with a wiring conductor one end of which is connected to the connection electrode and the other end of which is connected to the outside terminals, and an imaging element which is flip-chip mounted such that a light-receiving portion is located within the through hole at the bottom surface of the recess portion of the wiring substrate (see Patent Literature 1, for example). With such an imaging device, light (images) entering the light-receiving portion of the imaging element through the through hole is converted by the imaging element into an electrical signal, and is outputted via the wiring conductor of the wiring board and outside terminals to an external circuit or the like within a digital camera.
Such an imaging device including a flip-chip type imaging element needs less space for connections to the periphery of the imaging element with bonding wires than an imaging device in which the imaging element placed on the wiring substrate is connected to conductors by bonding wires (see, for example, Patent Literature 2 or Patent Literature 3), so that the imaging device can be made more compact.
Moreover, this imaging device can be turned into an imaging device module by protecting the light-receiving portion of the imaging device with a light-transmitting plate member, made of glass or the like, that is attached to the upper surface of the wiring substrate, covering the through hole, and arranging a lens over the imaging element with a lens-fixing member.